The Gr.2 Karnataka Juvenile Million has always attracted a high quality field. The race, apart from being extremely competitive, has provided accurate pointers to the classics of the season. In the past, winners of this race like Snow Dew, Fantabulous King, Wandering Star, Crown Treasure et al went on to win one Derby or the other. Even those who were in the beaten brigade went on to distinguish themselves. The list includes Full Speed and Smart Chieftain to name just two. This year’s event too has a number of distinguished runners in the fray and one could not have hoped for a better field in what is one of the highlights of the Summer Season. Ganapathy trained Flashing Star who won the Gr.2 Breeders’ Produce Stakes and Gr.3 Manjri Stud Million at Mumbai in taking style, towers over the opposition with the highest rating of 40. The son of Razeen out of Altitude (Steinbeck), Flashing Star is favoured by the terms of the race as his stablemate Finest Moment, a winner of three races, carries the burden of top weight. Flashing Star is to concede three kilos to his main adversary Democraticus, the smashing debut winner who returns to action after a setback kept him off the track since that first run. Caprese, who enjoys a high rating and is the best three-year old filly at the centre, at the moment, Yes Es Yes Ses and Glorious Breaker are no mean contenders. The only other top three year which is not the fray is Holding Court whose connections have chosen to run him in a competitive handicap race. Flashing Star announced his arrival on the classic scene with a smashing win in the Breeders Produce Stakes after an unimpressive debut run. After being pulled out of the rails, Flashing Star devoured ground in a trice and left the field standing to become a star overnight. He confirmed the good impression with another flashy win over an extended trip of a mile. Flashing Star has been showing out in morning trials and goes into the race in the pink of condition. Flashing Star will be the horse everyone has to beat and he will go into the race as an overwhelming favourite. The Padmanabhan trained Democraticus made a sensational debut, winning over six furlongs in winter, with the jockey hardly having to move a muscle to beat the opposition by a distance. After that run, he has been laid low by a back problem and he has been nursed back into top condition. The son of Royal Kingdom has been showing out in the workouts and if he stands up to the rigours of the race, Democraticus would prove a handful for everyone. If his debut run is anything to go by, he surely deserves strong support. The daughter of Burden of Proof Caprese won twice in Winter and both in tremendous fashion. Caprese is blessed with a good turn of foot and has an excellent temperament to boot. Though she hasn’t been blazing the track the way her challengers have been, her shrewd trainer Dhariwal knows how best to target her for the plum. Though the colts this time might prove better, Caprese should be still considered the dark un in the fray. Finest Moment won the Golconda Juvenile Million with a narrow win over Glorious Breaker and Integrate. He is carrying the top weight being the winner of three races and this perhaps diminishes his chances a great deal. However, Finest Moment is loaded with talent and should be right at the finish. Trainer Deshmukh has high hopes on Yes Es Yes Ses and sees only Flashing Star is his threat. It remains to be seen whether his optimism is right or wrong. Glorious Breaker is a good type of a horse who may find herself a little out of depth in this elite company.